


Till It's All Over

by ItsmeNRD



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Apocalypse, Battle, Complicated Relationships, Drama, Dystopia, End of the World, Fantasy, Fights, Gangs, Gen, Leadership, Light Angst, Novel, Original Character(s), Other, Psychological Drama, Rebellion, Science Fiction, Superpowers, Tragedy/Comedy, Violence, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-09 15:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16452569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsmeNRD/pseuds/ItsmeNRD
Summary: "It's instinct to survive, no matter the cost."The world has fallen into desolation. The apocalypse has started and finished, leaving behind the remaining groups. They grouped together in packs, raiding resources and avoiding a mysterious gang that kidnap and torture survivors.One group stands out - they have powers and all have a dark past. But they are all far from safe. Their leader, a destructive and oppressive insomniac, promises to help a girl in return of her skills she possesses - but something strange sends waves of unease throughout the pack, something about a forgotten past and a talk of mutiny.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Though it's rated mature, there's no bad language or vivid descriptions of sexual contact but it covers some strong themes. Has a bit of violence too. Read at your own risk.

The moonlight illuminated the broken streets and rubble, the aftermath of the bomb nearly seven years prior. The light was not able to penetrate the darkness of the alley, where a person was waiting, silent and still. He was somewhere in his mid-twenties. He had dark combed back hair, skin as pale as the full moon and seemingly black inky pools for eyes. Those black eyes scanned the debris filled street, making sure no one was coming. He stood straight with his hands behind his back.

A clink from above and behind caught his attention but he kept facing the street. A figure jumped down behind the man from the apartment balcony.

“So, you’ve found it?” The man with black hair asked, a voice that was soft yet agitated.

“Not yet Krissy. We’re still lookin’..” The accomplice had a noticeable southern accent and though he could change it in an instant, it felt most natural and spoke it whenever possible. He stood next to the man and looked out with him. The sword in his left hand glinted in the reflection of the moonlight, as did his helmet.

“For the last time, Jason, I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Alright, alright. It’s royal highness Kristopher, I forgot.”

“Stop taunting me. You know my name, use it correctly.” Kristopher’s voice became hostile.

“Sorry…” Jason pressed his lips together. “Anyways I found a person who could possibly help you, you know since you have that… condition.”

“How so?”

“Small, fast and importantly, alone. Also, young enough to believe anythin’ we say.”

“Any abnormalities?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Nearby?”

“Just entered the city a few days ago. Slowly eating her way into the heart.”

“So, it’s a girl.” Kristopher grunted. “Yeah, alright fine. Send a team of recruiters tomorrow morning. Shouldn’t be hard to get her.”

“Well... we should go back and tell the others, keep their eyes out for her. You, ya need to rest. To sleep.”

“And go back to that hellish place?” Kristopher laughed once, cold and humorless. “No thanks. I’ll watch out for her. Call me if anything happens.”

“Alright,” Jason shrugged. “Just… you need sleep sometime. Your body can’t function without it.”

“The fire keeps me burning.” Kristopher held out his hand and a flicker of pure flames ignited in his open palm, reflecting in his exhausted eyes and casting shadows underneath his protruding cheekbones. He looked ten years older than he was. He watched the flame dance and a sinister smile played on his lips. “It’ll keep me alive until then.”


	2. Beginnings

She decided to call herself Sage that day two weeks ago, the day her brother was ripped away from her. She remembered that herb was his favorite; he’d always have the lingering scent of it. Sage didn’t remember much about her life before the world had ended, before her parents were killed. She missed her brother terribly though. After all, he was the one who protected her all those years afterwards. As she had only been 8 years old. She'd lived with him for seven years, by themselves, no one to rely on. He told her to always rely on yourself, otherwise you run the risk of being let down, betrayed or forgotten. That was why they avoided everyone, never joining a pack.

There had been offers of course, everyone wanted young, healthy people, to keep going when the others grew old. He always refused but never protested. She trusted her brother.

They grew up together, growing up solely in their city, on the Loner side. It was even called the Loony side by the packs. No one in their right mind isolated themselves when the world was ending. There were very few others on the Loner side, but they never helped each other. They gathered resources for themselves; they were all Loners, like they wanted. 

Even though the apocalypse and the world wars killed most of the world’s population, the big cites still had a reasonable amount of people living there. They still had laws, and food and fresh water was distributed. The smallest cites belonged to the gangs and packs, where there was no order or regulations. It was a death zone to intruders. Usually they only had two packs each. With no one else to fight, they rivaled and fought each other. the human race loved to fight. They lived to die.

That’s why she stayed with her brother on the Loony side of the small city, where it was supposedly safe from gangs and packs. There wasn’t nearly as much noise, but there was still the light sound of talking, clanking, footsteps and wind. It was peaceful and quiet most of the time.

One day it was eerily quiet. There were no footsteps, no voice and the wind didn’t even blow. They instantly knew something was wrong. Her brother told her to wait in the dark alleyway while he took a look, and as soon as he stepped out, there were sounds of guns clicking. She remembered the voice clearly. “Don’t move another muscle. We’re not hunting you, but we won’t hesitate to shoot you.”

He froze and did as he asked.

“Now step further out and put your hands on top of your head. There you go, like that. A man in a clad of black dropped down from the other side of the building.

“What’s your name?”

“Jordan.” He said calmly.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty.” He replied.

The man gave him a sickeningly sweet grin. “Ah, is there anyone else with you?”

“No.” He lied.

“Good, take him back to camp.” A group of men surrounded him.

The girl watched them with her heart in her throat. She remembered her state of panic, that it could not be happening. They seized Jordan, and she couldn’t stand to watch him, so she ran up to tackle on of the men, but she was too small and the man did not even budge. He looked down at her smugly. “What do we have here?”

“Run!” her brother cried. “Run you idiot, run! Get out of here!”

She remembered waiting a split second too long and giving the man enough time to grab her by the throat with his enormous hand. She knew couldn’t get away, not with his strength. “what do you think you’re doing, pretty girl?”

She let out a squeak of distress.

“think about all the things we could do to her.” The man caressed his hands over her face and she felt her heart beat faster and faster. Her eyes flickered to his calloused hands to his morbid, ugly smile.

“Bring her. She can reproduce.”

“No.” her brother said firmly.

The men turned to look back at him.

“I’ll join you without resisting if you let her go,” He gave a small signal to the girl.

The man reduced his grip on her and she kicked him in the shin, and bolted away, tears streaming down her face knowing she had left her only family behind. Her only reason to live.

Sage found herself gripping the rim of the sink tight enough to make her knuckles white. She pulled herself out of the past and forced herself to focus on the present. She was alone now, and had been for those two weeks, only flashbacks of Jordan to keep her company. She stared at her determined reflection in the grimy mirror and traced her hands on her neck. She still felt those hands on her throat.  
She took a deep breath and ran her hand through her hair, wishing for something to something sweet to suck on. She hadn’t had anything sugary for seven years, but she never forgot the taste. She remembered lemon sherbets that her parents bought her, sweet on the outside, sour on the inside. That was all she could remember of life before the apocalypse.

After she had broken free of the grasp of the men, she’d run away from the city, escaping and trying to find the uninhabited wilderness. She wondered along the old freeway for days, without food or water until she found a muddy creek – a creek that was probably a river. Rain hadn’t fallen in North America for months, maybe years. Though there was little water, she did what he could to sustain herself until she got to a new city. This city had something strange going on. There was talk of a pack called ‘The Raiders’ that controlled the city and yet no one had even seen them. The situation was fishy and she did not like it at all. It was nothing like the cities Jordan talked about. It was really different from her own city too. She determined to find water and leave the place a soon as possible.

She sighed and stared at herself before exiting the crumbling bathroom. Jordan told her some of the pipes still worked, that maybe there’d be running water running somewhere. Shed been busy checking every building on this street.  
It took her a minute, but years of experience to climb through the debris and clamber down onto the streets below. She wondered down the cracked pavement, trying to memorize every new sign, new landmark she’d come across. This city was quiet too.

After a moment, she felt a pair of eyes on the back of her head. She turned, scanning some of the buildings and noticed many of them were burnt out, like this city had been bombed. She thought she could see a figure come toward her, but they were too far away. She squinted to try and see them better, but before she could get a good look at the newcomer, a pair of hands wrapped around her mouth and throat.

Her attacker pulled her down to the ground and pinned her by digging her knee into Sage’s gut, still keeping their hands firmly in place. Sage gasped in pain but managed to push her over, but then a second girl forced her arms on the road and knelt down on them, keeping her from moving more than a lurch.

“Empty her pockets,” The first one said, tightening her grip as the other rummaged through her body and pockets.

Sage struggled and felt as if she couldn’t breathe. The girl’s grip tightened on her throat, reminding her of that man. The man that took her brother away. Sage screamed, kicking her legs only resulting in another kick from the girl.

Were these the Raiders everyone was afraid of?

“Stop it, otherwise I’ll gouge your eyes out and feed it to you,” The girl brought a sharp kitchen knife towards Sage’s face.

“Yeah, she’s got nothing, just a Swiss army knife. Wonder where she got that.”

“Get off of me! I can’t breathe!” Sage could only let out muffles.

“Anything tucked in her shirt?”

The second girl stuck her hand down her shirt and found the locket she always wore close to her heart. The girl pulled it out and popped it open. She saw what was inside and snapped it shut again, dropping it on her chest.

“What’s in it?” the first said. The second replied, “A picture of her family. She’s alone.”

The first snorted. “Better for us then. Take the knife and we’ll knock her out before the raiders come.” She gave Sage a smirk. “Before they beat the tar out of you before we can.”

They threw Sage a blow and she toppled and immediately brought her hands up, noticing she was bleeding. Before the next blow came, three pairs of feet landed on the ground and the girls stopped. Sage glanced up for a second and see three people. One of them had some sort of biker helmet that concealed his eyes and was wearing a black leather jacket. Another had dark skin with a blue mask concealing half of it and the third had fluffy blond hair along with a sword that took most of the attention. The three didn’t match like the other packs did. Sage thought that these might be the Raiders.

Nobody moved for a long, tense minute.

Finally, the girls held their hands up in surrender and said, “Alright. You can have her, sorry to bother- “

The one in the biker helmet nodded and the three of them attacked in unison. Sage quickly ducked her head down, but they weren’t after her. A moment later, the biker helmet grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet and to sprint.

“You okay, kid?” He asked, his voice distorted by some speaker in the helmet.

“I think-“

“Good. Give me two seconds and you’ll be safe.” The guy released her and spun around to re-join the fight.

Sage wanted to keep running, but she had no weapons to protect herself since they’d stolen her knife. She tucked her locket back into her shirt and kept her hands on her face to cease the bleeding.

The one with the blue mask had what looked like strings some kind of strings or ropes he’d attached to one of the girls. It somehow controlled her every movement – except her screams and pleads for mercy. After only a moment, she grabbed the Swiss Army knife from her pocket and handed it to the swordsman.

“Get lost,” The biker helmet growled. “And don’t think about your faces here again.” 

They both nodded, and the masked man released his ropes and they both scrambled away in the other direction.

The three others walked casually toward Sage, like they owned the place. 

“Is this her?”

“Yeah, I’m sure of it,” the swordsman replied. He had a Southern twang, Sage noticed. Her heart ached, Jordan had been a great voice imitator and taught her many different accents. She recognized the two others had an accent of the American region; most likely from the East Coast.

“Okay, well then I guess I’ll get started. I’m Piers, but go by Puppet.” the masked one stuck out his hand.

Sage didn’t say anything or move.

“You’re just gonna leave me hanging? Sure, okay,” Puppet dropped his hand. “You need this though,” he handed her a bandage for her bleeding nose.

“Thanks?” Sage mumbled. She managed to suppress most of the bleeding.

“I’m Jason,” the blond one with the sword said. “And that’s Jackson, known as Jack. Take off you helmet, you’re scaring the poor girl.”

“Don’t call me that. And like your sword isn’t scaring her?” the helmet man pulled it over his head and revealed messy black hair with mischievous eyes. “Like the hillbilly said, I’m Jackson and I’m in charge of this operation.”

“No, yer not. I am,” Jason protested. 

“Hate to break it to you but Jason is right,” Puppet added unhelpfully.

“Oh yeah?” Jack argued. “Who’s been giving signals? Who’s been keeping everyone on track?”

“Who did Krissy call? Me,” Jason snapped.

“Who does he constantly tell to stop calling him Krissy? You.”

“I don’t see what that’s gotta do with anythin’”

“Hate to break it to you but the girl is getting away!” Puppet pointed out. Sage glanced behind her and saw them just standing there. She had escaped! She turned forward, sprinting for her life.

But then she got pulled back with mighty force and fell backwards onto the floor, she slammed her head on the pavement with a burst of dizziness. She felt ropes or string wrapping tight around her and pulling her back.

“Good job, way to knock yourself out,” Jack said as they slowed and stood over Sage. 

“Don’t be a jerk,” Jason held out his hand and helped Sage onto her feet. “Why were you runnin’ away? We’re tryin' to help you.”

“I…” She paused, having nothing to say.

“We’re takin’ you back to the Raiders, where you’ll be acquainted n’ then you’ll talk with Krissy-- Kristopher; he’s the one that wants to see you.”

“Wait,” Sage stepped back. “I’m not going to join your pack.”

Puppet laughed, but then awkwardly trailed off as he saw her expression. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“I’m a Loner,” Sage said, feeling her heart beat faster. She subconsciously pressed the cloth harder against her nose.

“Being a Loner is like asking to get killed,” Jack said. “Going out there alone is suicide.”

“But she was a Loner,” Puppet pointed out.

“Well, aren’t you a little basket of unhelpful comments?” Jack replied. “How’d you find me? Starving, dehydrated, beaten and half dead. I abandoned my first pack three weeks ago. Even if I hated you all, I wouldn’t leave. I’m smarter than that.” He glared at Sage. “You should be too.”

“I survived,” she said.

“For how long? Two weeks, it looks like. You’re lucky we found you before those girls beat you to death. We’re rivals. That’s why there are no Loners in this city. You won’t last a night out here.”

“What’s your name?” Puppet asked, changing the subject.

“Sage,” she replied quietly.

“As in the herb?” he asked. She nodded. “Nice.” Puppet then loosened his mask and let it hang on his neck, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. “Man, its hot.”  
Sage noticed that Puppet had what looked like a metal, robotic arm, and wondered how it worked when electricity had been gone since day one of the apocalypse.

“Come on, kid. Let’s go,” Jack said, walking away.

“I’m not going,” Sage backed up a little.

The three exchanged a glance. “Well,” Puppet said regretfully. “We didn’t really want this to be a kidnapping, and I really don’t want to have to do this.”

Sage shrieked as Puppet threw out his hands, releasing some kind of string that wrapped around her like a python, constricting her. He flashed a look of guilt, but followed along with the others as they headed down the road.

“Hey! Release me, I’m not joining you, you’ll never make me!” Sage screamed. Jack laughed as she continuously screeched pointless demands, and by then, they were lost in the shadows of the sunset.


	3. Meeting

“Can you shut this girl up before I murder her?” Jack growled whilst Sage continued screaming.

“Put me down, I promise I’ll never come back, I don’t want to join your stupid Raiders!” Sage begged.

“Hey, hey, it’ll be fine,” Puppet said, awkwardly patting her on her head. “You’ll like the Raiders! You’ll like Jorge. You remind me of him.”

Sage never stopped struggling, but she tired out and her efforts were weak and pointless. They traveled through the streets until dusk. They then reached a large, open roof building that was probably a sports field or some enormous Amphitheater. She looked up at the massive structure.

“Yep, we live here. Better believe it!” Puppet beamed.

Jason went up to a window and tapped on the glass. He leaned in close and whispered some kind of password. Then after a moment, the door opened and Jason led everyone inside. The field was dotted with tents, folding tables and chairs. There were people around, and they seemed to all have their place. 

Almost immediately, a rather neat and professional looking man came up to them. Everyone rushed out of the way and bowed slightly, as if he held some kind of authority. Sage analysed him, noticing he was wearing a black coat with a long tail. He was the definition of pride; chin up, chest out and hands behind his back. He had jet black hair that was slicked back and his exhausted eyes were neither friendly nor cold.

“This is her?” he stated rather than questioned.

“Yes, this is Sage,” Jason answered.

“Perfect. Thank you. Jackson, Piers, release her and go tell the others to stay… normal. Do not joke around.” 

Stay normal? Sage thought, struck with unease. 

“My name is Kristopher,” the prideful man said. “And I am the leader. I believe you, lady, can help me.” He smiled with kindness, but Sage felt that it was false. She knew better than to trust him.

“I’m not helping you,” she snapped. “You’re going to let me go, I’m getting out of here and you’ll never see me ever again, okay?”

Kristopher’s eyes flashed with anger, but was quickly concealed with a deep sigh through his nose. 

“Perhaps you’ll need a little more persuasion.”

Sage felt her face drain of color. Jordan had mentioned this before. Torture. Probably what he was facing right now.

“You’re going to torture me?”

The leader snorted. “No, we’re not that kind of pack. Now, come walk with me. Jason, you are dismissed.”

Jason nodded and left without protest. Sage watched him leave, almost wishing he would come back. She didn’t want to be left alone with this man.

“We are the Raiders,” Kristopher said, motioning at the camp. “We gather food, water, clothes, weapons, medical supplies and anything else we may need. We try to live as comfortably as possible, making the best of the situation.”

“You’re called the Raiders, why?”

Kristopher smiled a little. “Because we raid of course. We have raided this city to nothing, we know all of its secrets. There’s indeed a pipe, a pipe that still carries running water. Now, I’d tell you,” he added, catching Sage’s thirsty glance. “But then it would not be a secret. You’d have to join us first.”

Sage huffed but stayed quiet.

“We also raid the other pack, the Watchdogs. I heard that you have gotten in a fight with them, yes?” 

“Yeah,” Sage mumbled, rubbing her face. Her nose had stopped bleeding somewhere along the journey, but she could feel the crusted blood and feel the bruises on her face forming.

“Timber!” someone shouted. Sage looked up to see a girl with ginger hair, maybe slightly younger than her, seemingly fall from the sky. She grabbed onto a clothes-line, then a pole and seemed to monkey bar her way down to the ground. She slipped when she was a few feet above the dirt and fell on the ground. Just before she that, Sage swore she saw her slow down or even hover for a second before she tucked and rolled back to her feet.

“Oh hey, you must be Sage? Great, I’m not the only girl anymore here with these stupid boys!”

“You were floating,” Sage blurted.

“Oh why, of course I wa…” the red haired girl caught Kristopher’s glare and corrected herself. “-sn’t… Humans don’t fly – float. That’s crazy!”

 

Kristopher faced away and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Anyways, I’m Lexi,” the girl said cheerfully, holding out her hand. Sage was tired of being offered to shake Raiders’ hands, as if they were going to work for a while. She took Sage’s hand and shook it. “Oh, watch out.”

Sage turned, but felt a shock on her back. It seemed like an electric current, Sage’s hairs raised and she yelped.

“Hola, Lexi. Thanks for almost ruining my surprise,” a kid said. This one was wearing a white shirt, but it was stained in oil. He had bandages covering his arms and legs. “I’m Jorge, I work the fun stuff and rig traps and…” he caught the same glare from Kristopher. Jorge cleared his throat. “Ah, sí , sí – I’m the youngest here, 14. Well, except Lexi, but I don’t really like her, you see.”

“Feeling’s mutual!” Lexi bantered with Jorge.

“Why don’t you both find something else to do?” Kristopher said through gritted teeth. “I am working here.”

“Hey Sage, you look like you got in a fight – you’ve only been here for ten minutes,” Lexi said, blanking the command. “Did you- oh, it was Jack again, wasn’t it?”

“Actually-” Sage started.

“Sage ran into some Watchdogs before we found her,” Kristopher said. “They almost killed her. Fortunately, Jason and his recruiters found Sage before that happened. Now, both of you, leave.”

“Dios mio, that’s almost worse than my story,” Jorge joked. Sage glanced at him curiously, whilst Kristopher was on the verge of losing his temper, clenching his fists. Both of their eyes widened in fear.. “But, uh… I’ll tell you later, sí ?” Lexi and Jorge ran off after that.

Sage waited for a moment, then faced Kristopher. “Okay, what is going on here?” she demanded.

“What do you mean?” Kristopher gave her a sideways glance. 

“Something strange is going on. Everyone’s being so secretive about things and backstories and Lexi was floating and Jorge shocked me…” Sage paused. “What the hell is going on?”

Kristopher stared straight ahead. “Come with me.” He said.  
They walked through the camp, but didn’t speak again until they reached a small room in the back of the field, closed off by blankets and sheets. Kristopher held to blanket entrance open and gestured Sage inside, waiting until she had entered. Then they both hesitated. The dark room was covered in pillows and a couple camp chairs, a table with papers littering it in the corner. The room appeared to be covered in scorch marks. 

“This is where I stay,” Kristopher spoke softly.

“Why is it all burnt?” Sage asked.

Kristopher sat down on one of the cushions and sighed.  
“You have to promise me to listen to everything I say and keep it a secret. If you tell another soul, I’ll rip off your flesh and make you eat it, got it?”

Sage nodded quickly.

“Okay, I need your help,” he said.

“My help? With what?”

“I have a problem,” he started. “I don’t sleep at night, because if I do, I’ll be swallowed into a world of nightmares – my problem is that they aren’t just dreams, I wake up in the morning and I find… this,” he gestured to the room.

“This happens?” Sage asked.

“Not on its own,” Kristopher sighed again and held out his palm as if he was going to show her something, but then Jack burst through the blankets.

“We’ve got a problem. Lyra’s out of control.”


	4. Monster

Kristopher climbed onto his feet. “Sage, stay here. It’s safer.”

“What?” Sage was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening to her. “Who’s Lyra? Is she a Watchdog?”

“No.” Kristopher left.

Sage was utterly confused, and afraid. She got up and peeked from the blanket parting and scanned the camp. It landed on two people – one was a kind of android...? covered in metal plates and had long, metallic hair, and the other was a small boy with brown hair, wearing a sweater and a green scarf. The smaller one was wrestling the android.

“Jorge, I told you to fix it!” Kristopher shouted.

“Okay I’m coming!” Jorge yelled back, sprinting to them with Lexi right behind.

The metal one – the android – kicked the smaller boy off of him and rolled onto its feet, but before another attack, Jorge tackled it from behind and grabbed its neck. It jolted and lurched for a second, then its electric blue eyes faded to black and dropped onto the ground. Together, Jorge and Lexi dragged the android away to the corner of the field, into a tent.

Sage watched them for a second and then walked over to Kristopher. “What was that? I thought there hasn’t been electricity for years.” Sage said, angered by the lack of knowledge. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I need to talk to Jackson for a few minutes, talk with Danny until then.”

Sage was about to ask who Danny was, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was the brown-haired boy with the scarf. He was tinier than Sage would’ve expected.

“That’s me, I’m Danny,” he said, looking up at Kristopher. “You called my name?”

“Yes. Keep Sage occupied till I get her, okay?” Kristopher ordered and Danny nodded, replying with a cheerful, “Okay!”

He then looked back at Sage. “Hello, my name’s Danny. I think I’m sixteen, but I’m not really sure. I might be seventeen…” Danny trailed off and looked at looked at the sky, as if it had the answers. Sage thought he must’ve been younger than that, his voice hadn’t broken and he was tiny. Sage took note of the jagged scar down his right eye. “Maybe eighteen… I really don’t know. How old are you and where did you come from?”

Sage tried to find Kristopher but he’d walked away.

“Fifteen. City near the North.” She replied directly.

“Oh! Not far, that’s good,” Danny pulled Sage as he started walking. “You hungry? I’m starving.”

“A little,” Sage said. The last scraps of food she ate were three days ago, her stomach growled.

“Okay. Over here, we have the best food.”

“Um… what is it?” Sage didn’t want to eat some food from people she didn’t know, and considering they could kill her at any moment. Her body told her otherwise.

“I don’t know, but it tastes really good. Maybe some kind of animal, or vegetables or some other nice things. But it tastes great, especially if you haven’t eaten in three days and it’s very-”

Sage interrupted his rant. “How’d you know I hadn’t eaten in three days?”

“Lucky guess… I guess,” Danny shrugged, but something was off.

Sage tried to brush that off as they walked. She noticed Danny had a very slight limp.  
“What happened to you?” Danny looked back and saw she was looking at it.

“What this? Oh, I got it a year ago. Funny story actually, I don’t remember what happened. Actually, I do remember what happened a year and a half ago, but then it just stops there. My memory, I mean. But six months ago, I seemed to have forgotten everything about that. I asked around but they said the year completely normal, and that I probably had some kind of accident.” He ranted and then fidgeted with his scarf. “If anything, they’re more secretive when I ask them about it, it’s super frustrating.”  
Sage nodded, understanding the feeling of being kept from the truth. Danny then sighed. “Sorry, I like to talk a lot I guess. Probably bored you.”  
Danny then changed the subject and returned to his usual cheerfulness. “Hey look, it’s Ben!”

“Hello Danny. You must be Sage, do you need something to eat?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Sage took a bowl from Ben. It looked like it was full some sort of stew, Sage glanced at Danny uncertainly.

“Eat it before I do,” he said.

Sage put a spoonful of the stew into her mouth and her eyes widened in surprise. “That’s pretty good.”

Ben handed Danny a bowl, but it was notably smaller than Sage’s. The boy didn’t seem to car and almost inhaled the food.

Ben waited until they had finished and then said, “Why don’t you see what Puppet’s up to? He’s always getting into trouble.” It sounded kind, but he was hinting for them to leave.

“Okay. Come on, Sage,” Danny pulled her across the camp again. Finally, he let go of her arm and continued walking, talking non-stop. Sage didn’t really listen to his stories, she slowed and let herself fall a little behind. Someone then tapped her shoulder again. She turned around to see Lexi.

“Hey,” the Raider said. “I wouldn’t talk to him if I were you, not for long, anyways.”

“Why not?” Sage said. “He seems lonely.”

“Rightly so, the longer he looks at you the more he knows about you. All of your secrets, your weaknesses, everything. Unless of course, you have one of these.” Lexi touched a little stud earring she was wearing. “I’ll go see if Nitro ha an extra one. Come on, we’d better get you away from him before he spills everything about you.”

“How would he figure that out? Its not like he can read my mind… can he?” Sage caught the nervous look from Lexi but then Danny somehow appeared right behind them.

“Hey, Lexi,” Danny said. “I have to watch Sage. Kristopher told me to.”

“Well then, we’d better obey the mighty Kristopher then, huh?” Lexi said sardonically.

Danny’s expression darkened, just very slightly. “Well he’s the leader, isn’t he? And he told me to do it, so I’d better do it.” Danny dragged the words me and I.

“You’re his pet, Danny. You follow him a round everywhere and he uses you. You’re not that special”

“Better than you though. At least he can trust me. Sage trusts me, at least until she gets her brother back.” Danny snapped, then slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes going wide.

“How do you know about him?” Sage demanded, voice low and threatening.

“You messed up - again - didn’t you?” Lexi said. “Good job.”

“I’m sorry,” Danny said.

“How do you know about him?” Sage repeated, louder this time. She grabbed his shoulders and squeezed them, nails digging in. “Tell me, Danny, how do you know about him?”

“I’m sorry alright?” Danny cried out. “I didn’t mean to do it, but when you don’t have an earring and I just keep talking and talking and… I can’t help it! Please let go, it really hurts, I honestly didn’t mean to!”

“What the hell is going on here?” Sage shouted, releasing Danny’s shoulders. “Why is everyone so secretive? You want me to stay and act like I belong with you guys when I don’t know anything! Someone better tell me what’s going on before I walk right out!”

“It’s a good thing Kristopher wants you back, then, isn’t it?” Jack said behind them. He put his hand on Danny’s shoulder and lead him away from the others. Sage followed them, to get some answers.

They made their way to Kristopher’s room. Sage felt uncomfortable with everyone’s eyes on her. Every time they walked past someone, they stared before they turned away. Jack opened the blanket parting and pushed Danny inside, closing it and staying outside.

“Sage, like I told you already, I need your help,” Kristopher said, circling around the room. “Please take a minute and listen to me.”

“No, you listen to me. Tell me what’s going on. Danny knows about me, Ben seems cautious and Lexi told me to stay away from Danny. There’s no electricity, yet I saw whatever Lyra was,” Sage contemplated for a moment. “Do you guys have… powers?”

“You’re a smart girl, Sage,” Kristopher said, now sitting down. “If I tell you what’s going on, you will help me.”

Sage hesitated. “You’re blackmailing me, aren’t you?”

“I’m forcefully persuading you.” He steepled his fingers. “Blackmail is much harsher than that.”

“Okay, fine, tell me what you need help with. If I decide to help, tell me what’s going on, deal?” 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to leave details out of the story, but I suppose I can work with that.” Kristopher said. “I already told you about the nightmares, correct?”

“Yeah,” Sage said. “You didn’t explain the scorch marks.”

“I’ll have to skip that part. Just know that terrible things happen when I fall asleep.” Kristopher shifted to sit cross legged. “There’s something that can cure that. Yes, it’s some sort of a disease, I'm sure of it. The cure is in a huge facility about twenty miles from here. We’ve tried to get in before, and we sent in three people. Let’s just say, it didn’t go as planned and they came back, wounded mentally or physically.”

“So, you’re asking me to go on a suicide mission?” 

“No. There’s one-way in. it’s small and cramped, but you’ll make it. You’re small enough, that’s why we need you.” Sage noticed that he swayed a little, eyes unfocused.

“Well, I have acrophobia,” Sage said, rubbing her arm.

“Pardon?” 

“Acrophobia, fear of heights.”

“Terribly sorry to hear that. Its not that high… up… don’t… worry,” Kristopher slowly slumped over as he spoke, then jerked back up. “Not… now!” he muttered. “Sage, get out… of here. Get… Jack and Jason. Hurry.”

Sage backed away very slightly, unsure what was happening.

“Hurry… before I… fall,” he jerked upright again, but the exhaustion was too much for him. His head fell into his hands, slumped over again. His breathing became shallower and more pained.

Kristopher then bolted upright, eyes suddenly wide open. They were glossed over however, and filled with fire. He stood up with burning eyes. he held out his palm, and Sage took a moment to register what it really was.

Fire. Pure flames. The same fire he had in his eyes. Kristopher watched her, movements and twitching, fast and jerky. A slow smile spread across his face. “Got you,” he whispered, voice not like it had been before. It wasn’t right, it seemed distorted and sort of… demonic.

Sage rushed out of the tent, but just before that, the Raider lunged for her, snarling and baring teeth, just like a rabid animal. Sage screamed and tried to escape, but Kristopher covered her mouth and grabbed her neck. It was like the other pack, the man that took her brother away. 

Kristopher stayed on top of her, now burning her neck with flamed covered hands. “I will watch you burn,” that voice said, that sick smile still on his lips.

Sage managed to kick him off and stumble to her feet. Kristopher tried to lunge at her again, the fire seeming to coat the entire tent, filling it with flames until those crazy eyes were the only things Sage saw.


End file.
